Service Sector Report For Italy Comes In Horrible

Italy’s services workforce shrank at a survey-record pace in January, as business activity also decreased at an accelerated rate. New work levels fell more slowly, however, with firms increasing in confidence about growth in output over the coming year. Elsewhere, there was dip in cost inflation from December’s four-month high, while output prices fell at a modest and slightly slower pace. January saw Italy’s service sector output contract at a faster rate, as highlighted by the seasonally adjusted Markit/ADACI Business Activity Index – which is based on a single question asking respondents to report on the actual change in business activity at their companies compared to one month ago – falling from December’s post of 45.6 to 43.9 in the first survey period of the year. This latest reading was the lowest since last July, and signalled that the sector’s ongoing sequence of contraction extended into a twentieth straight month.